This actress gave India's first woman-led Rs 100-crore hit; and it's not Alia Bhatt, Kangana Ranaut, Deepika, Priyanka

The 100-crore club in Indian cinema came into existence four decades ago after the record run of Mithun Chakraborty’s Disco Dancer in Soviet Union. Over the years, several films joined it, ranging from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham to Gadar and Enthiran. The one common link between all these films was that they were led by male superstars. It took a while for a female-led fil to enter this elite club and it wasn’t a usual suspect who broke this glass ceiling.

The first woman-led Bollywood film to gross Rs 100 crore is...

The first Indian film starring a female actor in the lead, which crossed Rs 100 crore worldwide gross, was the 2011 release The Dirty Picture. The Vidya Balan-starrer was the unofficial biopic of yesteryear’s screen siren Silk Smitha and had Vidya play a fictionalised version of Silk. The semi-raunchy, semi-dramatic film, directed by Milan Luthria, also starred Emraan Hashmi, Naseeruddin Shah, and Tushar Kapoor. The film earned Rs 79 crore net in India and Rs 116 crore gross worldwide. It was, at the time, the highest-grossing female-led Indian film, a record that it would lose four years later to Tanu Weds Manu Returns, starring Kangana Ranaut

All female-led Indian films part of 100-crore club

Since Vidya Balan broke the glass ceiling, several other actresses have followed suit, starting with Kangana Ranaut. A total of 10 films have entered the club since The Dirty Picture, featuring three of Alia Bhatt (Dear Zindagi- Rs 136 crore, Rs Raazi- 197 crore and Gangubai Kathiawadi- Rs 210 crore), and two each of Kangana Ranaut (Manikarnika- Rs 133 crore and Tanu Weds Manu Returns- Rs 255 crore) and Sonam Kapoor (Neerja- Rs 120 crore and Veere Di Wedding- Rs 139 crore. The most recent entrant in the club is Adah Sharma-starrer The Kerala Story, which has grossed over Rs 300 crore worldwide, while rounding off the bottom of the table is Tapsee Pannu’s Pink (Rs 104 crore).

Interestingly, the film at the top stars Zaira Wasim. The musical drama Secret Superstar raked in Rs 858 crore, courtesy a dream run in China, where the film earned over Rs 600 crore. It was a success back home too, where it netted Rs 75 crore.